Half of all consumer court president posts sit empty while 5.15 lakh cases pile up. The statutory resolution deadline is 3-5 months, but 35% of cases have been pending over three years. The system is working exactly as nobody intended.
The Consumer Justice Report 2026, released last week, reveals that India's consumer courts have perfected the art of institutional decomposition. Fifty percent of state commission president posts and 40% of member posts are vacant — not because qualified candidates don't exist, but because appointments simply aren't being made. The result: 5.15 lakh cases pending (up 21% since 2020), with a third stuck for over three years against a statutory deadline of 3-5 months. In a twist that would be funny if it weren't taxpayer money, budgets for these courts actually increased 50% in recent years — but 15% went unspent because there literally aren't enough judges to use it. India has 685 district commissions for 775 districts, meaning 90 districts have no consumer court at all. If you bought a defective product in one of those districts, your legal recourse is vibes.